'A church is no place for wall': Tiny chapel near Rio Grande at center of legal fight

In the city of Mission,TX, activists are expected to gather at Our Lady of the Guadalupe Catholic Church for a prayer walk to La Lomita – the chapel that inspired the city’s name – ending on the chapel's grounds with a rally and picnic.
USA Today Network - Texas

The first court battle over the Catholic Church's argument that President Trump's wall would violate religious freedom will be Wednesday in McAllen.

On Wednesday in nearby McAllen, La Lomita Chapel will be the subject of a federal court proceeding that could lead to the government taking the property surrounding the historic mission to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border.

"I'm with the Catholic Church on this one," Sandra Totten, who was visiting South Texas from Maryland, said as four others from a birding tour of the Rio Grande Valley joined Totten and her husband around the chapel's simple altar. "A church is no place for a wall. And the wall is ecologic disaster."

Kathy Whittier, a Maine native who now calls Texas home, agreed. She talked about how La Lomita, named for the "little hill" on which the chapel sits nestled among mesquites and live oaks, is integral to the lives of many Catholics in the region. She recalled nighttime Christmas tours held so the stars in the desolate patch of farm country would be shining against the sky.

La Lomita Chapel(Photo: John C. Moritz/USA Today Network)

"We're touring these places (along the border) because we're afraid we'll never see them again," Whittier said inside the white chapel topped by a ceder shingle roof and a modest bell tower. It's only about 10 paces long, six paces wide.

The hearing in court Wednesday is the first formal step in what could be a long process involving La Lomita. It was established in the mid-19th century by Missionary Oblates to provide a spiritual hub for Catholic settlers between Brownsville and Laredo. La Lomita Mission gave the city of Mission its name.

The court battle began when Diocese of Brownsville Bishop Daniel Flores said no to the government's request to enter the 26-acre property for the purpose of surveying to determine its suitability for a wall site. Flores based the rejection on Catholic teachings to accept and embrace refugees and asylum seekers.

At the center of the legal argument is that the wall would violate the right of freedom of religion.

The initial hearing centers on whether the government may enter the land, not whether the land will be taken by the government.

The National Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas on Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019. The center will have about 70 percent of its property cut off by the proposed border wall along the levee in the area. Courtney Sacco/Caller-Times

People ride a bike along the levee near the National Butterfly Center in Mission, Texas on Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2019. The center will have about 70 percent of its property cut off by the proposed border wall along the levee in the area. Courtney Sacco/Caller-Times

Markers for planned construction on fencing and other barriers line the side of a road in Mission, Texas.
The plans released by the federal government show the barriers near the U.S./Mexico border would cut through the National Butterfly Center, a nearby state park, and a century-old Catholic chapel next to the river. Courtney Sacco/Caller-Times

Markers for planned construction on fencing and other barriers line the side of a road in Mission, Texas.
The plans released by the federal government show the barriers near the U.S./Mexico border would cut through the National Butterfly Center, a nearby state park, and a century-old Catholic chapel next to the river. Courtney Sacco/Caller-Times

Markers for planned construction on fencing and other barriers line the side of a road in Mission, Texas.
The plans released by the federal government show the barriers near the U.S./Mexico border would cut through the National Butterfly Center, a nearby state park, and a century-old Catholic chapel next to the river. Courtney Sacco/Caller-Times

Markers for planned construction on fencing and other barriers line the side of a road in Mission, Texas.
The plans released by the federal government show the barriers near the U.S./Mexico border would cut through the National Butterfly Center, a nearby state park, and a century-old Catholic chapel next to the river. Courtney Sacco/Caller-Times

A bright altar is the centerpiece inside La Lomita Chapel in this August 2017 file photo. The Catholic Diocese of Brownsville is fighting a federal proposal to construct a border wall at the site outside Mission, Texas. Kirsten Crow/Caller-Times